Burnley Blessed Trinity pupil wins RSPCA award for Blackpool beach photo of jellyfish

The stunning photo titled ‘Jelly Land’ was entered by Corbyn Thomas, who was asked to enter the competition as homework set by his art teacher Mrs Palich at Blessed Trinity College in Burnley. The whole class had been given the homework but only Corbyn was shortlisted - and then won.

Every year, the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards invites young people aged 18 years and under to capture the animal kingdom on a camera or a mobile device. Winners were announced at an award ceremony at the Tower of London hosted by TV presenter and RSPCA president Chris Packham.

Corbyn said: “This was my first time entering. I was given some homework by my art teacher asking me to enter the awards, so I did. I’d taken a picture of this jellyfish when visiting Blackpool beach. I didn’t know much about it but I researched jellyfish and found out all about them afterwards.

“The different colours and the pattern caught my eye and I wanted to find out more about what type of jellyfish it was. Google told me it's a lion’s mane, which is one of the largest jellyfish species.

“I’ve always had a love of animals as I was brought up with pets, and always going on walks with my auntie’s dog Georgia. I was on holiday in Islay, Scotland, recently and took some photos of dragonflies and caterpillars. You could see all the colours on the caterpillar which was cool, but now jellyfish are my favourite animals to take pictures of.”Sponsors of the competition are Natures Images (wildlife photography holidays) and Camtraptions (camera traps for wildlife photography).

This year’s awards were judged by a panel of experts in wildlife photography, including wildlife photographer, TV presenter and RSPCA president Chris Packham; wildlife photographer Rachel Bigsby; former competition winner-turned-professional photographer Catriona Parfitt; professional wildlife photographer and photographic guide Ellie Rothnie; and RSPCA photographers Andrew Forsyth and Emma Jacobs.

Judge and awards host, Chris Packham, said: “Seeing children and young people express their connection to the natural world through these photographs is always so heartening to see, and this year I was blown away by how many superb photographs we received for the competition.

“The RSPCA Young Photographer Awards is a real celebration of animals and the natural world and I love taking part every year. I hope everyone who entered continues with their love of animals and photography and they should all be proud of their achievements. Next year, we hope to reach even more children through the Young Photographer Awards as the RSPCA celebrates its milestone 200th year.”

As well as celebrating his award, Corbyn celebrated his 13th birthday today - making an exciting trip to London and winning the award a very memorable birthday.

He added: “I’m really grateful that I’ve had the opportunity and I’d like to thank the RSPCA for giving me the opportunity, and I’d like to thank my art teacher Mrs Palich for setting it as homework. My school was really pleased to hear about this, they even mentioned it in assembly, and on their Twitter (now X) account, and my teacher watched the live stream!”